Person Page - 4

     Randolph B. Orser married Mary Bonter.

     Daisy Reeves was born on 13 December 1879 in Stephens, Texas, USA.¹ She married Charles Edward Donnell, son of Alfred Pierce Donnell and Elizabeth Frances Langford, on 3 June 1903.² Daisy Reeves and Charles Edward Donnell moved from Silverton, Texas in 1921 to Canyon, Randall, Texas, USA. Daisy Reeves died on 23 December 1932 in Canyon, Randall, Texas, USA, at age 53.¹ She was buried at the Silverton Cemetery in Silverton, Briscoe, Texas, USA.¹

     Lillian Donnell was born on 11 March 1904 in Dimmit, Castro, Texas, USA.² She died on 2 June 1937 in Canyon, Randall, Texas, USA, at age 33.³ She was buried at the Silverton Cemetery in Silverton, Briscoe, Texas, USA.³

     Alfred Reeves Donnell was born on 26 May 1909 in McLean, Texas, USA. He married Emma Mary Zihlman, daughter of John Louis Zihlman and Ida May Smith, in 1933 in Henrietta, Texas, USA. Alfred Reeves Donnell married Winifred Peterson in 1971. Alfred Reeves Donnell died on 29 December 1995 in Canyon, Randall, Texas, USA, at age 86. He was buried at the Dreamland Cemetery in Canyon, Randall, Texas, USA.²
     He worked on the family farm that saw him through the Depression and the Dust Bowl Days. He graduated from Canyon High School in 1926 and attended West Texas State Teachers College. Circa 1931, Alfred Reeves Donnell joined Company F, 142d Infantry, 36th Division in the Texas National Guard and was appointed to the Army Air Corps where he learned to fly. He returned to Company F where he served for 10 years.
He taught at Amarillo High School for four years, where he was the professor of military science and tactics and was in charge of the ROTC program.³ He farmed and ranched until 1948. He then moved back to Canyon where he owned and operated Donnell Garage in Umbarger until 1977. He was originally a member of the First Baptist Church of Canyon, then became a member of the First Presbyterian Church. He was a Mason and 'worshipful master' for the Canyon Masonic Lodge. He was also a worthy patron for the Eastern Star.

     Reagan Spencer Donnell was born on 3 June 1906 in Grey, Texas, USA.² He died on 27 April 1920 in Plainview, Hale, Texas, USA, at age 13.³ He was buried at the Silverton Cemetery in Silverton, Briscoe, Texas, USA.⁴

     Charles Edward Donnell Jr was born on 31 July 1912 in McLean, Texas, USA.² He married Eula Faye Hardeman, daughter of (?) Hardeman, on 23 December 1938 in Canyon, Randall, Texas, USA.³ Charles Edward Donnell Jr died on 21 April 1976 at High Plains Baptist Hospital in Amarillo, Potter, Texas, USA, at age 63. He was buried at the Dreamland Cemetery in Canyon, Randall, Texas, USA.⁴
     In 1926, Charles Edward Donnell Jr started working at the Olympic Theater, became the manager and stayed until his death in 1976.
During World War II, he joined the U. S. Marines when he was a theater manager.
He was the Canyon Chamber of Commerce choice for "Man of the Year" two consecutive times, and as President, he worked to get the bond elections that created the Amarillo-Canyon Expressway.
In April 1958, he was elected Mayor of Canyon, Texas.^5,6

     David H. Alexander was born on 23 February 1882 in Texas, USA.¹ He married Bertha Lee Donnell, daughter of Alfred Pierce Donnell and Elizabeth Frances Langford, on 24 July 1907 in Silverton, Briscoe, Texas, USA.² David H. Alexander died on 30 June 1966 in Hereford, Deaf Smith, Texas, USA, at age 84.¹ He was buried at the West Park Cemetery in Hereford, Deaf Smith, Texas, USA.¹
     He was a lumberman, managed the Hereford Lumber Company, and bred registered Hereford cattle.³

     Robert Gordon Alexander was born on 27 April 1885 in Mansfield, Texas, USA. He married Olive Leora Donnell, daughter of Alfred Pierce Donnell and Elizabeth Frances Langford, on 27 January 1909 in Amarillo, Potter, Texas, USA.¹ Robert Gordon Alexander died on 13 February 1970 in Silverton, Briscoe, Texas, USA, at age 84.
     He was a farmer and raised polled Hereford cattle.

     Frank Richardson Oates was born on 17 May 1888 in Droylesden, Manchester, England.¹ He married Marie Adelaide Piper, daughter of Alexander Ross Piper and Marie Susan Cozzens, on 18 November 1914 at Christ Church, Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, New York, USA.¹ Frank Richardson Oates married Marjorie Wheaton Piper, daughter of Alexander Ross Piper and Marie Susan Cozzens, on 27 August 1957 at St John Episcopal Church, South Salem, Westchester, New York, USA.¹ Frank Richardson Oates married Mildred Marjorie Andrews on 26 January 1977.¹ Frank Richardson Oates died on 23 September 1987 in Ascot, Berkshire, England, at age 99.¹ He was buried in Windlesham, Surrey, England.¹
     Frank Richardson Oates, his 3 sisters Lillian, Dora and Mabel and his parents emigrated to the USA, sailing from Liverpool for New York on the SS Nevada on the 18 July 1891 and landing in New York on the 28th, ten days later. He and his sisters were raised in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York, USA.¹ He received a mechanical engineering degree from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA, in 1910.¹ He began working on the Niagara Power Scheme for the Toronto Electric Light Company.¹ Frank and Adelaide were married in 1914, set up home in Toronto and their first child, Alexandra (‘Alex’) was born in Toronto in 1915. In 1917, as the US declared war with Germany, their parents wanted them back home and they returned to Bay Ridge, where their second child, Adelaide (‘Sister’) was born on New Year’s Day 1920.¹ He worked on the New York City subway construction and then as an assistant sales manager for the Cheek-Neal Coffee Company, the makers of Maxwell House.¹ In 1924, he began working for Technicolor in Boston with MIT and, for the next seven years, the family was settled in Brookline, Boston Massachusetts, where their third child, Elizabeth (‘Bizzy’), was born.
In 1931, he was appointed to supervise Technicolor's Hollywood film processing plant and he and his family were relocated to Los Angeles California on the train.
In 1936, he was chosen to establish and run Technicolor's new plant in England on the Bath Road opposite the future London Heathrow Airport and his family settled in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire for three years, during which two of their three daughters met their future husbands, before another world war had them relocating home again in 1939.
The family settled in Pleasantville, New York and after the war moved into Brooklyn (81 Columbia Heights) across the river from Technicolor's New York offices and plentiful jobs and shops for the girls.
Finally, he worked for The American Sugar Refining Company (e.g. ‘Domino Sugar’) overseeing the Construction Department (e.g. a new refinery in Trinidad) and latterly as a consultant for them. He retired in 1958, aged 70.¹
He had been widowed in 1955 and, in 1957, he married again with Marjorie Siefke née Piper (13), a widow for 33 years (with now grown-up children and their families) living at "Peppeneghek", "The Farm", South Salem, New York where they lived together until she died in 1971.¹ He married again with Marjorie Johnson née Andrews (951) in 1977. They lived together in West Stockbridge Massachusetts until she died around 1981.

Soon afterwards, he decided to join his three families in Europe – England, France and Denmark. He had left England aged 3 and returned aged 93. For the next 6 years, he visited each family for several months each and finally settled in Windlesham, Surrey, England and when he died in 1987, he was buried in Windlesham’s churchyard.¹

     James Wilson Piper was born on 26 September 1832 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA. He married Sarah VanDyke Berier Ross, daughter of Edward Coke Ross and Catharine Van Dyke Berier, on 6 August 1863 in Fort Hamilton, New York, USA.¹ James Wilson Piper died on 30 October 1876 at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, USA, at age 44. His funeral was held at Captain Erkuries Beatty's residence.² He was buried at the Ashland Cemetery in Carlisle, Cumberland, Pennsylvania, USA.³
     He was a charter member and Recording Secretary of the Freemont Club, established to support the Union Electoral ticket and oppose James Buchanan. He worked for his brother-in-law, Erkuries Beatty (1190) at the Carlisle Weekly Herald where he was the office foreman.⁴
Piper left civilian life for the Army at the outbreak of the Civil War where he served with his friend Captain Smead, United States Military Academy Class of 1854, who was tasked to recruit and form a voluntary battery of artillery. He received a commission as a lieutenant and went to the field immediately with Smead's battery, which was part of the Artillery Reserve for the Army of the Potomac in the Virginia Peninsular Campaign.
During the Seven Days Battles (June-July 1862) he was severely wounded during the Battle of Mechanicsburg on 28 June 1862. He received a brevet promotion to Captain for gallant and meritorious service during that battle. When Captain Smead was killed in the Second Battle of Bull Run on 30 August 1862, Piper assumed command of the battery.^2,5
After the end of the Civil War, James Wilson Piper was an instructor at the Artillery School at Fort Monroe, Virginia, USA. He was assigned at Columbia, South Carolina, but returned home to Bedford County, where he was "Rusticating."⁶ He was again assigned to the Artillery School at Fort Monroe. After the Civil War, James Wilson Piper was the Regimental Adjutant, 5th U.S. Artillery, Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island, New York, USA. He was required to retire on sick leave and returned to Carlisle, Pennsylvania with "a shattered and broken constitution." He came down with pneumonia early in October, which caused his death. Alexander Ross Piper (19), at age 11, rode for the doctor.²

     Sylvanus Thayer Cozzens was born on 28 February 1823 in West Point, Orange, New York, USA.¹ He married Susan Allen Wilson, daughter of James Wilson and Susan Allen, in 1857. Sylvanus Thayer Cozzens married Mary Ann MacNamara, daughter of John MacNamara and Ann Welsh, on 20 October 1880 in Manhattan, New York, New York, USA.² Sylvanus Thayer Cozzens died on 24 November 1889 in New York City, New York, USA, at age 66. He was buried at the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Plot 201186.¹
     In 1856, Sylvanus Thayer Cozzens and John Broome Cozzens were managing the Brandreth Hotel on the corner of Broadway and Canal Street, in New York City.³ Sylvanus Thayer Cozzens and Susan Allen Wilson lived in 1860 at 3rd Division, 20th Ward in New York City, New York, USA. Sylvanus, Susan Allen, her three children by her first marriage, and Stanley Thayer were counted in the 1860 census.⁴
Sylvanus Thayer Cozzens was the manager of the Cozzens Hotel in Highland Falls, with help from his brothers, after his father's death in 1864. In the report of his death, "...he made the hotel famous..."
After selling the Cozzen's hotel to the Cranstons, he took over the management of the Saint George Hotel in New York City.
In 1889, he was the "steward" of the Gerlach apartment house, on West Twenty-seventh Street, when he took the freight elevator to the second floor. There, it is surmised, that as he prepared to leave, his left foot became jammed between the platform and the shaft, and that he tried to release himself by a sudden jerk and dashed his head against the elevator fracturing his skull. He was taken insensible to the New York Hotel where he died at 12:30 in the morning.⁵

     William Brown Cozzens was born on 24 September 1787 in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. He married Sarah Martling, daughter of Abraham Martling, circa 1810. William Brown Cozzens married Jane Davidson circa 1818. William Brown Cozzens died on 13 March 1864 in Highland Falls, New York, USA, at age 76. He was buried at the Church of the Holy Innocents in Highland Falls, New York, USA.
     He moved from Newport, Rhode Island to Albany, New York with his parents in about 1788. Circa 1806, he enrolled in a volunteer company of the 11th Artillery Regiment of the City of New York in the hostilities leading up to the War of 1812.¹ He was a partner of his father-in-law who was the keeper of the "Old Tammany Hall," and took up residence with him circa 1810.²
He was stationed with his company on Staten Island. The same year he was promoted to sergeant and served at Bedlow's Island, and in 1814 at the Battery at Castle Garden and at the Old North Battery. He was commissioned in the Army June 21, 1815 as Lieutenant from Daniel D. Tompkins then Governor of the State of New York and resigned to return to civilian life March 22, 1816 in 1812.³
William Brown Cozzens was asked by Tammany Hall to help with the building of a new facility called "The Wigwam" to which he invested $500. The proprietor who was hired failed and in May 1813 he consented to become the keeper where he attracted a large group of patrons, including many members of the military.⁴
William Brown Cozzens was the purveyor to the Cadet Mess circa 1828 at West Point, New York, USA. He was the builder and first manager (1829 - 1837) of the West Point Hotel and a good friend of Sylvanus Thayer, founder and father of the modern military academy at West Point, New York, USA. After 1837, William Brown Cozzens and Jane Davidson were the owner of the American Hotel in New York City, considered the most elegant hotel in the city at the time. Because of Cozzens experience at West Point, the American Hotel attracted a number of prominent military figures, including General Winfield Scott who kept a residence at both the West Point Hotel and the American Hotel..⁵ William Brown Cozzens ran for Mayor of New York City on the Native American Party, finishing third, in 1846.
William Brown Cozzens was the builder, owner, and manager of the Cozzens West Point Hotel located in Buttermilk Falls (Highland Falls, New York) outside the West Point gate. Despite an initial failure during construction in 1847, the hotel opened to guests on 7 June 1849. After the original wooden structure burned on 1 March 1861, despite the efforts of the Corps of Cadets to douse the flames, he rebuilt the hotel of stone and steel.
He was a friend of Generals Scott, Lee, and Grant and hosted a meeting between Scott and President Lincoln during the Civil War. The Cozzen's Hotel was sold in 1876 to Henry Cranston who renovated the hotel and changed the name to "Cranston's". Within two years he filed for bankruptcy and the the property was eventually owned by James Pierpont (J. P.) Morgan and managed by the Goodsell Brothers.
It was sold to the Catholic Diocese and the Franciscan Sisters established Ladycliffe College. The property was eventually absorbed into West Point's South Post.^6,7
William Brown Cozzens deeded the land on which the Church of the Holy Innocents was established on 30 June 1847 at Highland Falls, New York, USA. He was the builder of the new Parry House, near Buttermilk Falls circa 1850.

     Issachar Cozzens was born on 21 August 1754 at Providence, Rhode Island, USA, the son of Issachar POLLOCK (1099) and Deborah Cozzens (1096).¹ He married Mary Daniels, daughter of Peter Daniels and Tabatha Hayward, on 1 November 1778 at Second Congregational Church (now the Beneficent Congregational Church) in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. Issachar Cozzens married Susanna Green on 20 October 1799. Issachar Cozzens died on 18 January 1840 in New York City, New York, USA, at age 85. He was buried at the Moravian Burial Ground in New York, New York, USA.²
     At Newport, Rhode Island, USA, in June 1775, a British Loyalist named Doane bought flour to provide to the British forces in Halifax. A near riot ensued and the flour was seized and guarded until it could be removed to Roxbury. The commander of the guard was Issachar Cozzens, presumably serving under Captain Tew.³ He fought in the nine-month's campaign ending with the Battle of Bunker Hill in Captain William Tew's Company, Colonel Spencer's Regiment of Seconnet, under the command of General Nathaniel Greene. He was a Sergeant in the expedition against Newport with Captain Abimelack Rigg's Company, Colonel John Mathewson's Regiment of Rhode Island, ending his service in 1778. At some time, he was part of General Washington's security detail. (Note: There is considerably more background in Livingston's "Colonial Cozzens" or Frederick Swartwout Cozzens autobiographical sketch.)⁴
Issachar Cozzens was a farmer and a grocer after the Revolutionary War ended. In 1788, the family moved to Albany, New York until 1793 when they moved to New York City, New York, where he resided (except for a year he spent in Oneida, New York) until 1827.^5,6 He lived with his sons William B. Cozzens or Frederick S. Cozzens starting in 1827 at West Point, New York; Bulls Ferry, New Jersey; or New York City, New York until he died.⁵

     Sarah VanDyke Berier Ross was born on 25 November 1846 in Gambia, Ohio, USA. She married James Wilson Piper, son of Alexander Moore Piper and Anne Espy Elder, on 6 August 1863 in Fort Hamilton, New York, USA.¹ Sarah VanDyke Berier Ross died on 31 March 1886 in Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, USA, at age 39. She was buried at the Wesleyan Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
     Her husband was seriously ill before his death in October 1876 because of wounds suffered during the Civil War. When he passed, Sarah was seized “with an attack of nervous prostration” for which her physicians prescribed alcoholic stimulants. This resulted in a significant family drama.
The use of alcohol as a treatment led to an “inordinate appetite for strong drink”, and subsequently her commitment to the Fort Hamilton Inebriates’ Home in June 1878 under order of the Supreme Court of New York. Her uncle Major Francis E. Berier was appointed as her “committee,” like a trustee, for “her person and estate.”
When admitted to the home she was suffering from delirium tremens. Under the care of the physicians of the home, she rapidly recovered and within a month or so was pronounced cured. However, her uncle Major Berier refused to permit her discharge unless she was recommitted to some Catholic or Protestant institution, usually the “Refuge of Fallen Women”. Mr. Willetts, the Superintendent of the Fort Hamilton Inebriates’ Home, claimed her uncle wanted to restrain her because “she was volatile and frivolous.” Major Berier threatened to send her to an insane asylum. John M. Ross, her brother, wrote to Miss Annie E. Piper (1188), her late husband's sister, of Washington DC, in a letter dated 14 Jan 1879, that: “I fear her mind has been so affected that she is more fit for an insane than an inebriate asylum.” Sarah was so frightened that she sent for two physicians to judge her mental condition.
Superintendent Willetts and the home’s Resident Physician, Dr. Lewis D. Mason, were both in favor of her release before Christmas 1878. She was given liberty from the Fort Hamilton Inebriates’ Home to visit friends she had made at Fort Hamilton, which started the movement to release her.
The court received affidavits from a variety of sources, including Superintendent Willetts and Dr. Mason who pronounced her cured and “possessed of strong will power to abstain from the use of liquor,” and from friends who met her frequently at the Warm Springs in Perry County, Pennsylvania in 1876 before her husband’s death as to her “gentle and refined behavior”. Annie Elder Piper (1188) asserted to the court that Major Berier was unfit to be Sarah’s “committee.” Sarah asserted to the court that her uncle was under the influence of liquor when he visited her, and was “irritable, abusive, and unjust”, that his threats to have her committed to an asylum were “unjust aspersions on her character,” and that he intended to keep her in restraint “to keep her from all further enjoyment of life and society.” Sarah further asserted that that she had “recovered from her appetite for strong drink,” that she was able to abstain and never expected to return to it, and that she was recovered by July 1878.
After the court’s decision to release her, Major Berier who had possession of all her property, amounting to $448, and her pension of $24/month, paid the cost of her board and restored all property. (Quotations above are directly taken from the source.)²

     Jane Davidson was born in 1798 in New York, New York, USA. She married William Brown Cozzens, son of Issachar Cozzens and Mary Daniels, circa 1818. Jane Davidson died on 26 April 1868. She was buried at the Church of the Holy Innocents in Highland Falls, New York, USA.
     She and William Brown Cozzens were the owner of the American Hotel in New York City, considered the most elegant hotel in the city at the time. Because of Cozzens experience at West Point, the American Hotel attracted a number of prominent military figures, including General Winfield Scott who kept a residence at both the West Point Hotel and the American Hotel. after 1837.¹

     Heinrich Knipp was born on 17 September 1842 in Niederdielfen, Wilnsdorf, Prussia, Germany. He married Amelia Meyer on 1 March 1875 in Milam, Texas, USA.² Heinrich Knipp married Katherine Hibbeler, daughter of William Henry Hibbeler and Sophia (?), in May 1884 in Milam, Texas, USA.³ Heinrich Knipp died on 28 October 1904 in Milam, Texas, USA, at age 62.⁴ He was buried at the Cameron Pioneer Cemetery in Cameron, Milam, Texas, USA.⁵
     Heinrich Knipp was also known as Henry. He emigrated in 1868 to New York City, New York, USA, on the steamer Bavaria that departed Germany on 2 May 1868.
According to Knipp family lore, he had been in the Prussian Army, struck an officer and needed to leave the country.^1,6 From Louise Robbins Davis' letter:
He arrived in Cameron, Texas in 1869, by way of Chicago where he fished the Great Lakes. He joined a group of men making their way down the Mississippi to New Orleans.
He moved to Rockdale after March 1875, then to Round Rock, Texas where he lost his house to a fire on 7 May 1877.^1,3 Louise Robbins Davis wrote that after his first wife Amelia died very young:
He had been a carpenter, cabinet maker, wagon maker and worked on the railroad line to Mexico, at times returning infrequently to his family.³ Also lore: At one point in the marriage of Heinrich Knipp and Katherine Hibbeler, he raised his hand to beat her, and she reached behind her and picked up the poker. On his deathbed, he is supposed to have said, “Whatever you do, don’t let her hit me with the poker”.⁶

     William W Knipp was born on 21 February 1885 in Cameron, Milam, Texas, USA.¹ He died on 15 June 1937 in Houston, Harris, Texas, USA, at age 52.² He was buried on 17 June 1937 at the Rose Hill Memorial Park in Corpus Christi, Nueces, Texas, USA.²
     From research documented in FindaGrave: Death certificate identifies wife as Mrs. Dixie Knipp and father as Henry Knipp, a native of Germany. It lists an 1883 birth date, though headstone shows 1885. WWI draft card is under the name William Willie Knipp and cites a DOB of February 21, 1884. Nearest living relative is listed as Decia Knipp.² He lived in Chapman Ranch, Texas, USA.²

     Ernest August Knipp was born on 22 May 1892 in Cameron, Texas, USA.^1,2 He married Emma Ray Raymonds in 1919 in Harris, Texas, USA. Ernest August Knipp died on 17 September 1970 in Houston, Harris, Texas, USA, at age 78.¹
     He served in the U. S. Army in World War I and later practiced law. He passed the Texas bar in 1922 and from 1924-1928, he served as an assistant criminal district attorney in Harris County.
For many years he represented the county in civic manners before the office of county attorney became an elective one. He remained active in the firm of Knipp and Sedgeley until he became ill five weeks before his death. Golfing was his favorite pastime.^3,1

     Fred Charles Knipp was born on 26 July 1896 in Cameron, Texas, USA. He married Francis Garland Royall, daughter of Cynthia W Royall, on 9 December 1923.¹ Fred Charles Knipp died on 28 March 1949 at age 52.¹ He was buried at the Presbyterian Cemetery in Lynchburg, Virginia, USA.¹
     He and Francis Garland Royall lived in 1940 at Route 649 in Bedford, Virginia, USA, with their three children, her mother Cynthia W. Royall, and a servant Jerry Green.²

     Laurence Milton Saucier was born on 23 March 1924 in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. He married Marie G Kootkar, daughter of (?) Kootkar, on 31 December 1945 in Tiel, Holland. She had been his nurse during the war. Laurence Milton Saucier died on 24 September 1998 in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, at age 74. He was buried at the Notre Dame Cemetery in Cornwall, Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry, Ontario, Canada.¹
     He was educated through Grade 6. He was a mill worker at Courtaulds.

     DeWitt Clinton Gamble Jr. was born in Downing, Missouri, USA.
     DeWitt Clinton Gamble Jr. was known by his family and friends as DC.

     Eloise Gamble married (?) Weber.

     Alexander Stanley Piper was born on 13 August 1893 in Barnesville, Georgia, USA. He died on 13 February 1895 at Barnesville, Georgia, USA, at age 1. A reportedly inebriated doctor gave Stanley an adult dose of paregoric for diarrhea.